T2-Weighted Image-Based Radiomics Signature for Discriminating Between Seminomas and Nonseminoma

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the performance of a T2-weighted image (T2WI)-based radiomics signature for differentiating between seminomas and nonseminomas. Materials and Methods: In this retrospective study, 39 patients with testicular germ-cell tumors (TGCTs) confirmed by radical orchiectomy were enrolled, including 19 cases of seminomas and 20 cases of nonseminomas. All patients underwent 3T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) before radical orchiectomy. Eight hundred fifty-one radiomics features were extracted from the T2WI of each patient. Intra- and interclass correlation coefficients were used to select the features with excellent stability and repeatability. Then, we used the minimum-redundancy maximum-relevance (mRMR) and the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) algorithms for feature selection and radiomics signature development. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was used to evaluate the diagnostic performance of the radiomics signature. Results: Five features were selected to build the radiomics signature. The radiomics signature was significantly different between the seminomas and nonseminomas (p < 0.01). The area under the curve (AUC), sensitivity, and specificity of the radiomics signature for discriminating between seminomas and nonseminomas were 0.979 (95% CI: 0.873–1.000), 90.00 (95% CI: 68.3–98.8), and 100.00 (95% CI: 82.4–100.0), respectively. Conclusion: The T2WI-based radiomics signature has the potential to non-invasively discriminate between seminomas and nonseminomas.